Labor's Edge: Views from the California Labor Movement

Sempra Energy Proposal Could Cost as Many as 15,000 U.S. Jobs with California Hardest Hit

Sempra Energy’s plan to offshore green energy production to Mexico would result in as many as 15,000 lost U.S. jobs and nearly $300 million in lost local, state and federal tax revenue. 90% of the direct job losses would occur in Imperial County, which had the highest unemployment rate in the nation as of April 2011 at 27.9%

There is a tradeoff between building renewable energy in California and building it in Mexico to import into California. In the case of Sempra’s proposed Energia Sierra Juarez transmission line, California and more specifically, Imperial County, loses.

Bob Balgenorth, President of the California State Building and Construction Trades Council:

This report confirms what we’ve known all along: Sempra’s plan is a job killer. This flawed proposal to import energy instead of building projects here undermines President Obama’s vision to create jobs. It is the wrong direction at a time when we should be building green energy projects in the state to put Californians back to work.

The California State Building and Construction Trades Council calls on Secretary Chu to just say no to Sempra’s plan to outsource American jobs.

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 569 represents Imperial County, the area most threatened by Sempra’s proposal.

Local 569 Business Manager, Johnny Simpson:

With construction unemployment at its highest in a generation, we can’t afford to outsource even one construction job as Sempra is proposing to do.

Sempra Energy has asked the Department of Energy for a Presidential Permit to construct a cross-border transmission line, known as Energia Sierra Juarez, between Mexico and California to enable the company to import electricity into California from energy projects in Mexico. Energy Secretary Steven Chu will decide later this year whether or not to allow Sempra’s proposal to proceed.